President and mayor clash over state of Malé’s public spaces
A digest of the weekend's top story.
16 Feb, 9:00 AM
Maldives Independent
Welcome back. It was a quiet weekend, news-wise. We’re looking at the president's sadness at the condition of a park and artificial beach developed during his tenure as infrastructure minister. In other news, a pedophile convicted in one of the most horrific cases of child sexual abuse died in prison and the government assured price controls for pantry essentials ahead of Ramadan.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu visited Rasfannu with his family on Friday morning and lamented the state of Malé’s western artificial beach, drawing pushback from his successor as mayor.
Both Rasfannu and Sultan Park, sources of “contentment and happiness” for residents of the congested capital, are falling into disrepair, Muizzu tweeted, pledging “special efforts to restore and enhance their beauty and freshness”.
Muizzu was the infrastructure minister when Rasfannu and the new Sultan Park were developed. He later served as mayor from 2021 to 2023.
Sultan Park has not been repaired since it was redeveloped in 2016, Mayor Adam Azim from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party shot back. The council has made an announcement seeking a party to restore the decrepit facilities, he added.
But the bid announcement was gazetted on Friday evening.
Meanwhile, the contractor chosen for the replenishment of Rasfannu will begin work on removing mud from the beach next week, the city council said. A previous agreement with a state-owned contractor for repair and maintenance of the public beach had been terminated, the council revealed.
The move followed a protracted dispute between the council and the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company over upkeep of the beach. MTCC – which operated kiosks at the beach as part of its maintenance contract – accused the council of refusing to grant permits for repair work. But the council previously blamed the lack of funds for the costlier rebuilding work necessary on the crumbling huts, barbecue blocks and fishing platform.